Jose-Massu-Espinel
St. Killian Peated
Single Malt — Germany
Reviewed
December 16, 2023 (edited December 18, 2023)
It is always nice to try whiskies from non traditional whisky countries. Even if Germany has been making whisky for a while, you don't tend to think of them when talking about whisky makers.
St. Killian is a distillery established in 2012, and the beautiful bottle has the shape of a copper still. This review is for their peated expression, that comes at 46%abv.
On the nose, it is a bit simple, but the aroma notes are quite interesting. Starburst fruit chew sweets; pineapple juice, pineapple pie and impalpable sugar. After a sip, the aroma transformed into lotion for burnt skin and tropical punch.
On the palate, it is a bit richer, with notes of smoke, ginger and pepper.
Aftertaste is smoky, a bit straightforward, but you can tell that this has been well crafted. Pineapple and ashes.
Overall, this wasn't the most peated nor the most impressive whisky ever; nevertheless, it is a solid everyday dram. I don't believe this is too expensive and might be worth trying just to check your buckelist of whiskies from different countries. Nice looking bottle, and above average dram, my score for it is 83 over 100.
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@PBMichiganWolverine yes it can be done anywhere, and i remember clearly when i was studying that the concept of "terroir" doesn't not exist in whisky, since the drivers of flavors are actually the water (about 8%), the distillery variables such as size of stills (12% of the flavor aprox.) And the oak barrels which will impart near 80% of the final flavor. But let's say that distilleries like Waterford are trying to prove this wrong, you still have to deal with the fact that most of Scottish distilleries buy their barley from third parties, so the concept of Terroir is nearly gone then. On other cases, the usage of peat will dramatically change the percentage of flavors, and the peat might come from diferent places, and it might even taste differently from the same place if dug depperly. That is why a concept of Terroir is really non-existant in whisky, unlike wine where grapes are the main flavor driver.
@Jose-Massu-Espinel i always thought whiskey can be made anywhere, unlike wine that needs certain soil and temperature for grape varieties